A minor miracle occurs

 If I tell you that, having got into bed at 10pm last night, Ash was up and dressed at midnight you might understand why I didn't have high hopes for today.  Not only that but, whereas his normal routine is to wake for the day around 6.30 and then have three cups of tea before getting up properly, this morning he was downstairs fully dressed at 6.15.

So we didn't get off to the best start and our morning was full of confusion.  Ash didn't know what to do with himself, when to eat, how to make a cup of tea and on and on until I was driven to distraction.  Then however, a friend came to collect the play house that the 8 year old is now far too grown up to use and we were left with a space that just needed a bit of sweeping and plant trimming to turn it into a sheltered seating area.

We set to and did it between us with Ash happy to do the sweeping.  Finished just in time for lunch and there followed yet another afternoon on the sun loungers topping up the tan which was, once again, the best possible use of our time.

How did I know?  because when I suggested tentatively that we might eat our tea outside on the patio he thought it was a brilliant idea which was the minor miracle mentioned in the title of this post.

For years and years we ate outside every single night when the weather was warm enough.  Ash hated being inside so I would come home from work to find the table on the patio laid and tea all ready to be dished up.  Then dementia came calling and he hated being outside.  Most days and every evening were spent inside and any attempt to change that provoked an outburst so in the end I stopped mentioning it and accepted the 'inevitable'.

Tonight was the first time in four years that we've eaten in the fresh air and was just another example of how much of the old Ash I've got back. I can't tell you what a relief it is  and I'm also so glad I didn't give up on him, however much, at times, I wanted to.

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